'The Dominican friars, Sisto da Firenze and Ristoro da Campi, began to build the church in 1246 on the site of the l0C Dominican oratory of Santa Maria delle Vigne. The nave and aisles went up in 1279 and the building was finished in the middle of the 14C with the campanile and the Sacristy by Jacopo Talenti. The marvelous facade was remodelled between 1456 and 1470 by Leon Battista Alberti (the original facade was early 14C) who created the splendid portal and everything above it, articulated in inlaid squares and bordered by the heraldic sails of the Rucellai family who commissioned the work. Two large reversed volutes tie the lateral masses together with those in the center, articulated by four engaged pilasters and terminating in a triangular pediment. The interior is divided into a nave and two aisles by compound piers with pointed arches, a 16C renovation.' Source: www.arca.net/db/chiese/novella.htm